What is an action verb?
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Today, we are going to zoom in and talk about one of the eight parts of speech: VERBS! Specifically, we are going to discuss the ACTION verb. Are you ready? Let's get started.
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Welcome to the Shurley English Blog! For the past thirty-five years, our mission at Shurley Instructional Materials has been simple. We do all we can to help teachers and students experience grammar and writing success. With that goal in mind, we wanted to create a space where our team of educators could share tips, tricks, and techniques to ignite learning. It’s all about educators helping educators on the Shurley English Blog. We invite you to join the conversation!
Rev Up Your Writing With Power Words
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The English language is full of wonderful words to help you communicate. You don’t have to write with common or overused words. Let us show you how to Rev Up your writing with Power Words in this week’s Two-Minute Tip.
Read MoreActivity Time: Say goodbye to mental burnout
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In some of my previous posts, I have touched upon the importance of keeping kids moving in the classroom. Physical movement wakes up their brains, gets their blood flowing, and it’s just plain fun. While many of us typically seek comfort and routine in our daily lives, students in a classroom don’t always need that kind of comfort. Yes, routines can help people stay focused and build self-discipline, but too much routine can also turn us into rigid creatures of habit. In my experience, students are more focused when classroom routines are followed, but there are also great benefits when they step away from the daily grind and get moving. This is the ideal way to help them avoid mental burnout.
Read MoreActivity Time: Understanding Verb Tenses
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Did you know that a verb can tell time? It’s true! Within every verb is a little piece of information called tense. The tense of the verb tells you when the action of the verb takes place. Mastering the use of correct verb tense is a critical skill that allows a speaker or writer to purposefully convey “time.”
Do some of your students struggle to understand the difference between simple present, past, and future tense verbs? If so, Shurley English has an activity that just might help them comprehend verb tense with more clarity! Follow along, and I’ll show you how it’s done!
1. Give students a paragraph that is written in present tense:
2. Have students identify all the verbs in the paragraph by highlighting or underlining them:
3. Next, ask students to write the verbs in order on a separate sheet of paper and verify that they are written in present-tense:
4. During the next step, ask students to change the present-tense verbs to past-tense.
Tip: If you want to change a present-tense paragraph to a past-tense paragraph, you must change each verb to past-tense, one at a time. Example:
5. Finally, have students rewrite the original paragraph, inserting the past tense verbs in place of the present tense verbs:
This activity purposely focuses students’ attention on the tense of each verb in the passage. It teaches students to use consistent tense to show actions that occur at the same time. If they want to change a present-tense paragraph to a past-tense paragraph, students learn that all they have to do is change each verb to past tense, one at a time!
